Apple secrecy is bitter fruit on Hill

Apple is famous for its veil of secrecy around the new iPads and iPhones. But Sen. John Rockefeller and others in Congress wonder whether the company has more than technological innovations to hide.

When Apple didn’t participate in an April hearing on children’s online privacy, the West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, gave voice to his suspicions.

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“When people don’t show up when we ask them to ... all it does is increases our interest in what they’re doing and why they didn’t show up,” Rockefeller said of Apple and Google, which both declined to testify. “It was a stupid mistake for them not to show up, and I say shame on them.”

While Apple’s success has earned rock-star status in Silicon Valley, its low-wattage approach in Washington is becoming more glaring to policymakers. Despite its increasing influence over consumers’ use of technology — most recently with the iPad and iPhone 4 — Apple has kept a particularly low profile inside the Beltway.

“It’s unfortunate because they are a major player in this area, and we are going to continue to have a long, in-depth conversation,” on these topics, said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who presided over theprivacy hearing, referring to Apple’s empty seat at the witness table.

Like Microsoft and Google before it, Apple is getting attention from regulators as it grows and starts to compete more directly with other technology heavyweights.

This week, Google complained about Apple’s new rules limiting application developers’ ability to share iPad and iPhone user data with third parties. Google said the new rules restricting advertisers from Apple’s popular platform are anti-competitive.

This follows other objections to Apple’s exclusion of Adobe’s software from the iPhone. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are looking into the complaints.

Last fall, the Federal Communications Commission demanded to know why Apple rejected the Google Voice application from the iPhone App Store. The FCC is also investigating whether exclusive arrangements between wireless carriers and cell phone manufacturers — such as the one involving AT&T and the iPhone — are anti-competitive.

And on Thursday, the FBI launched an investigation of a security breach that revealed information about some 100,000 iPad users, including those working on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

“As Apple continues getting success in new areas, the more they’ll be a lightning rod for attention,” said Rebecca Arbogast, managing director of analyst firm Stifel Nicolaus. “So far, these are all issues Apple’s been able to ignore.”

It’s not that Apple doesn’t pay attention to Capitol Hill. Four respected lobbyists make up its Washington office, led by Catherine Novelli, former assistant U.S. trade representative and partner at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.

Apple is active in several industry trade groups — including TechNet, Business Software Alliance and Information Technology Industry Council — but goes out of its way to stay under the radar. The company would not comment for this story.